Daily Skimm

You worked hard enough this week. Let us plan your weekend…

Happy Pumpkin Season to all who celebrate. We’re not usually the type to make a recipe take longer, but this one extra step will make your go-to pumpkin bread, muffins, and cookies hit that much harder. It’s that gourd (sorry, had to).

As the self-appointed leaders of Team Leggings Are Pants, we strongly approve of these clever styling tricks that make them look polished enough for a work meeting or even a fancy dinner reservation. BRB, asking our moms if they saved those stirrup ones.

Is your closet also 75% filled with items you’re holding onto “just in case”? The viral “friend stylist” decluttering method makes it obvious what to let go of, no actual friend required. Those donation bins have no idea what’s coming.

Crashing your car on the way to lose your virginity is bad enough. Now imagine waking up from a weeklong coma convinced your mom is an impostor. That’s how Hulu’s Phony begins. In the genre-defying series, Sam Nivola (of The White Lotus fame) plays Sonny, a high school student, while Connie Britton (also of The White Lotus fame) is his mom slash principal. The two are unusually close, so when he notices subtle changes after the crash, he can’t let it go. Her face looks different (see why she called the uncanny-valley transformation “thrilling” and “a little terrifying”), and she won’t return their special triple shoulder squeeze. As Sonny investigates, you’ll laugh, you’ll gasp, and you’ll wonder if Belinda is going to appear (spoiler: she doesn’t).

Can we explain why throw pillows cost so much? No, we cannot. Can we show you how to give the ones you already own an expensive-looking makeover with a silk scarf and zero sewing skills? Yes, we can.

Psst... See what else is happening this weekend so you never miss a moment.

Halloween doesn’t officially start until you’ve watched which movie?

“Beetlejuice”

“Hocus Pocus”

“The Nightmare Before Christmas”

“The Addams Family”

Happy (almost) weekend. Today, we’re celebrating my husband’s nana with cousins, aunts, uncles, and other family members who are coming into town from all over. In between swapping stories about her, here’s what’s on my agenda:

Playing Mind the Gap, a multigenerational trivia game that covers TV, movies, music, and slang from almost every era. It’s basically tailor-made for a room full of relatives. (And for watching your parents struggle with the Gen Z questions.)
Shopping for whimsical, house-shaped shelves to display the tiny treasures my girls have started collecting. (I promise not to organize or touch any of them.)
Recording my oldest daughter’s piano recital with the Camp Snap digital camcorder. Do I feel a little self-conscious using it in public? Yes. Am I obsessed with how easy it makes it to go phone-free and download the videos to my computer? Also yes.
Burning this Apple Barn Soy Candle. It smells exactly like a granny cottage, and I’m adding a second one to my cart for the holidays.
Organizing our family photos so my girls can put them into these absurdly cute albums, along with notes about each image. The goal? To help them find joy in documenting these memories. (And because I’m already mixing up which baby is which in newborn pics.)

— Samantha Darby / Newsletter Editor / Metro Atlanta, GA

Weekend: The Dress Code Is Leggings 💯